Today marks the 19th founding anniversary of Jagannath University (JnU), a historic institution which began as a school in 1868, established by Kishorilal Roy Chowdhury, a zamindar from Manikganj's Baliati region. It later became Jagannath College in 1947, before embarking on its current status as a full-fledged public university in 2005. However, as the scope of the institution has grown for nearly two decades now, the need for a new campus with all necessary facilities kept growing too.

A promise was made by the Awami League government to meet this need—the promise of a brand new campus. Following student protests in demand of on-campus residential halls, the government agreed to design a modern campus for the institution in September 2016. The project was approved in October 2018, with the land ministry allocating 200 acres of property for the new structures in Tegharia, Keraniganj. But since then, this promise has failed to morph into reality, remaining a distant dream for an entire generation of students.

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In 2005, the university initially started with 22 departments under four faculties, led by its first VC Prof Dr Sirajul Islam Khan. Currently, there are 38 departments under six faculties, which are based in 11 buildings on an 11-acre campus, catering to 17,000 students. The new campus is expected to transform the institution into a fully residential university, accommodating 30,000 students across 60 departments.

Approved by Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), the project was budgeted at Tk 1,920.94 crore.

As per the project design, this second home for this institution is expected to have high-functioning modern campus buildings, new administrative offices, residential halls, cafeterias, medical centres, sporting grounds, a teacher-student centre (TSC), swimming pool, and lake for recreational purposes.

Initially scheduled for completion by June 2020, the project remains incomplete despite four extensions, with no visible progress as development remains stalled with land acquisition complications and perimeter wall construction.

As per university sources, 188.60 acres of the total allocated land were handed over to the university administration on January 23, 2020, before construction work commenced. However, the remaining 11.40 acres are yet to be handed over.

According to the university's engineering department, four companies were initially contracted for various works under this project. Starlight Service Limited and RS Limited got a Tk 61.89 crore contract for constructing a five-storeyed engineering building, while Kingdom Builders was given the tender for boundary wall construction at the expense of Tk 33 crore.

RN Enterprise was allocated Tk 3.28 crore for pond renovation. Meanwhile, a company named UIADL was given Tk 32 crore in two phases for excavating the lake.

While the initial phase payments have been made, on a visit to the construction site, this reporter saw that the building works continue at a snail's pace. The authorities blame incomplete land acquisition for obstructing boundary construction and land filling.

Photo: STAR

Protective fabric that was placed around the lake to prevent erosion failed to serve its purpose, leading to more siltation in the waterbody while the feeble, fragile embankments meant to guard the lake continues to shrink with every passing day.

Students attributed the prolonged delay to administrative apathy and corruption.

"In the last six years, the lack of visible development at our new campus has been fuelled by bureaucratic delays, corruption, land acquisition problems, political shifts, or construction setbacks. However, we know that our administrative team didn't do their job properly," said Toukir Ahmed, a student at the university's mass communication and journalism department.

He urged for streamlining the project plan with transparency while stressing the need to improve project management.

Lamenting the university's failure to ensure accommodation on campus, student Mujahid Bappy said, "While there have been significant changes in the administrative positions, the chief engineer, accused of irregularities and corruption in the second campus project, remains in office. No tangible actions are being taken. Thus, we are skeptical about the administration's sincerity."

Asked about the progress in land acquisition and ongoing work, project director Syed Ali Ahmed said the process is managed by the university's registrar's office and is unaware of the reasons behind the delays in acquiring the remaining 11.60 acres of land.

"Land development and building construction are ongoing, and we have not encountered any obstacles so far. The work will be completed soon," he added.

While responding to questions about corruption allegations, Helal Uddin Patwari, the project's chief engineer, said, "I cannot answer the question. The university has issued me a show-cause notice, and I have responded to it."

Addressing the allegations and concerns, the university's Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Rezaul Karim said, "We are actively addressing the complaints and promise to make a significant effort to finish the new campus works soon."